Elfin Maker

” Steel and stone, fire and water. These are crude tools for a crude world. No great thing comes from them whatever the dwarves say. True art, true magic comes from the heart. It grows there like a flower, blossoms like a rose and endures if we have the vision to carve it into the substance of this world of ash and dust.”

The Quintessential Elf II

Author Shannon Kalvar
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2004

Even the dwarves wonder at elfin crafts. Whatever they make seems subtly superior to things made by others, even if they use the same materials and techniques.

Many a dwarf has searched in vain for the secret. They look at the tempering of metals, at the techniques with bellow and hammer, at forge temperatures and tensile charts.

Elfin makers just laugh at such folly. They know that the physical techniques of their craft do not differ from those of other peoples. Elves must smelt ore and hammer steel like the rest of the world. The difference lies not in the body but in the spirit. Elfin makers do not try to combine ingredients to make things. They do not speak of ‘releasing the spirit’ of an item. Materials and magic do not matter to them at all, save for their ability to function as a conduit for their ideas.

For it is in ideas that the art of elfin makers truly comes alive. Elfin makers do not just Craft objects. The work of their hands expresses ideal forms and pure concepts drawn from the realm of the spirits. Such creations cannot be duplicated by lesser craft, no matter how well executed or imagined.

Characters of any background may aspire to become elfin makers. Since they must all have some knowledge of how to create magical items, all elfin makers must also have knowledge of spells. However, this knowledge come from any source; arcane or divine, learned or native. They must also master at least two physical crafts.

Hit Die: d6.

Requirements

To qualify to become an elfin maker, a character must fulfil all the following criteria:

Race: Elf or half-elf.
Skills: Any two Craft skills at 10 ranks each.
Feats: Any two Item Creation feats.

Class Skills

The elfin maker’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Appraise (Intelligence), Concentration (Constitution), Craft (all skills, taken separately) (Intelligence), Decipher Script (Intelligence), Diplomacy (Charisma), Knowledge (all skills, taken separately) (Intelligence), Profession (Wisdom), Search (Intelligence), Sense Motive (Wisdom), Spellcraft (Intelligence) and Use Magic Device (Charisma).

Skill Points At Each Level: 6 + Intelligence modifier.

The Elfin Maker
Class Level	Base Attack	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
1st	+0	+2	+0	+0	Imbue with spirit	+1 level to existing class
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+0
3rd	+1	+3	+1	+1	Expression of the spirit	+1 level to existing class
4th	+2	+4	+1	+1	Blur the bonds
5th	+2	+4	+1	+1	By no mortal hands	+1 level to existing class

Class Features

All of the following are features of the elfin maker prestige class.

• Armour and Weapon Proficiency: Elfin makers gain no new proficiencies with any weapons, or with armour or shields.
• Spells per day: When a new elfin maker level is gained the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in any one spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus metamagic or item creation feats, bard or druid abilities and so on.).
• Spells: The elfin maker continues to gain spell power, albeit more slowly than other spellcasters do. At every level except 2nd and 4th, the elfin maker gains new spells as though he had also gained a level in any one spellcasting class he belonged to before becoming an elfin maker. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.
• Imbue with Spirit (Su): At 1st level the character may reduce the XP cost of creating a magical item by one half. When he creates an item for himself, the elfin maker does not have to spend XP to power the item, unless the XP cost is greater than 200. In this case, reduce the XP cost by 200 for personalised items. Personal items
  created using this ability do not work for anyone other than the elfin maker.
• Expression of the Spirit (Su): At 3rd level masterwork items the character makes take on an aura similar to that of the elf. If the elf is good, the item radiates an aura of good. If the elf is evil, it radiates an aura of evil. Weapons made by the elf gain the appropriate descriptor for the purposes of penetrating Damage Reduction. In the hands of a character with similar alignment, masterwork items provide a +2 enhancement bonus to whatever task the item would normally assist. Pots provide this bonus to food preparation, cloaks to Hide or Survival skill checks and so forth. If the item could conceivably provide a bonus to more than one check the elfin maker must specify which bonus it provides when he makes it. masterwork weapons and armour made using this technique gain a +2 bonus to their hardness and +4 bonus to their hit points.
• Blur the Bonds (Su): At 4th level any item the character creates, not just masterwork ones, carry the abilities conferred by expression of the spirit ability.
• By No Mortal Hands (Su): At 5th level the elfin maker finally masters the art of crafting magical items from common Craft. He spends 1/10th the cost of a magic item when creating it, rather than one half.